In early November 2012, I traveled down to Santa Fe, New Mexico, for 4 days of celebration and the birthday of one of my oldest friends, Ed Gale. Ed and I went to high school together at Fountain Valley School, outside Colorado Springs, in the late 60s. Along for the ride were a couple of more high school chums, Kurt Swingle and Ernie Steck. We all arrived on Thursday, enjoying a wonderful dinner in downtown at The Shed, which I highly recommend, if you are down that way! I also recommend Harry’s Roadhouse, where we had breakfast the following morning, after which we ventured eastward to Cowles, which is little more than a sign post on a road with a smattering of cabins, here and there. That said, however, it was definitely a home away from home for our overnight. Once we had unloaded the truck and settled our gear, we took off for a scan of the river for Ernie, who had brought his fishing tackle, and for me, camera in hand. They found a likely spot for Ernie to return to and I caught this candid shot, the faces of the innocent kept in confidence:

Perusing the River

We continued along our merry ways, whether it was Ernie donning his fly-fishing gear or myself continuing to shoot photos, as I am wont to do in a new environment. I traipsed about the shoreline as I studied the river and how various things got in its way to impede its course….that is, the rocks and boulders, felled branches and trees, detritus of one form or another, or whatever may be pushing it this way or that. While my concentration was the Pecos River itself, I was, occasionally, distracted by various bits that caught my eye.